


Something Sparkly

by pensversusswords



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Altean traditions, F/M, First Kiss, Fluff, Getting Together, Misunderstandings
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-01-10
Updated: 2018-01-10
Packaged: 2019-03-03 07:03:34
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,444
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13335951
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/pensversusswords/pseuds/pensversusswords
Summary: “I’d love something sparkly,” Allura says.Shiro is powerless when it comes to giving Allura what she wants.





	Something Sparkly

**Author's Note:**

> Written for _Aphelion_! So happy I can finally share, I hope you enjoy!  <3

In the short amount of time Shiro has known her, it has become clear that Allura is not one to indulge herself. Shiro understands; they’re in the midst of an intergalactic battle for the safety of the entire universe, and she is the princess leading the charge. She has a lot on her plate. It’s enough of a struggle to convince her to rest when she’s overworked herself (something Shiro knows he’s guilty of as well, but still), let alone spoil herself. However hard she pushes the Paladins, she pushes herself double.

So, when her voice bursts forth with excitement and she clasps her hands together in front of her in a rare moment of girlish delight, Shiro immediately perks up.

Something sparkly, she says, her eyes gleaming with an almost childlike eagerness. Shiro mentally catalogues her expression amongst his favourites. For a moment he thinks he gets a glimpse of what Allura might be like if she didn’t have the fate of the universe resting on her shoulders.

Shiro has been well aware of his growing affection for Allura for quite some time now, so the sudden urge he feels to fulfil this little wish of Allura’s isn’t exactly surprising. This is nothing new to him. He often feels compelled to do things for Allura, whether it be doing as much as he can to lessen the burden of leadership, or getting her a gift to let her know that she is appreciated.

But there’s a reason that he’s never acted on those feelings before. There’s just… too _ much _ going on. It’s not a good time for either of them.

It’s a cop out, Keith keeps telling him. There may never be a good time for either of them. Why is he waiting? Shiro always brushes Keith off, changes the subject quickly, but every once in a while his friend’s voice will nag at him again and he will feel his resolve weaken. Why  _ hasn’t  _ he said anything to Allura about his feelings?

He’ll remind himself then that he has to be practical. He has responsibilities and so does Allura. He can’t afford to be the cause of any awkwardness that might occur just because of his uncontrollable feelings for Allura, especially if it turns out that she doesn’t return them.

Regardless of whether or not he’s going to say anything to Allura, at the end of the day he just wants her to have the things she wants. She deserves nice things.

Allura doesn’t need to know the sentiment behind the gift, he decides. She doesn’t need to know that it has Shiro’s fingerprints all over it, that Shiro has been turning the idea over and over in his mind since the moment it appeared. Shiro can say the gift is from the team, he decides. He alone will have the secret pleasure of knowing that he’d gotten it for her himself.

He enlists Coran’s help, of course. A byproduct of Allura working hard all the time is the fact that she’s always very aware of what is happening on her ship, as a good captain and commander should. (Although good doesn’t quite cover it—she is exceptional at everything she does, in Shiro’s opinion.) So, it’s difficult to leave the ship without her noticing. Thankfully, Coran is able to distract her with some very tedious diagnostic tests that need Allura’s attention specifically, and Shiro is able to slip off in one of the pods unnoticed, coordinates set for the mall.

It’s been years since he was last in a shopping mall, and of course this one isn’t exactly the same as the one he’s used to on earth, but it bears many similarities nonetheless. The clientele looks different, but it’s easy to spot the groups of young adults flitting from store to store, laughing amongst themselves with brightly colored drinks in hand. Shops have their displays set up at the doors in front of their store, trying to entice customers. Shiro catches sight of a very small alien with purplish skin and an extra set of arms on either side of their torso waving said arms around angrily as they argue with a despondent employee at a show store.

Just like home, Shiro thinks.

Even with the vast array of stores he has to select from, it takes Shiro a while to find exactly what he wants. He finally finds the right store tucked away in a somewhat secluded corner after wandering for the better part of an hour, away from the bustle of the rest of the mall. It’s not the greatest location for a store, so far out of the way, at the end of a relatively deserted hallway.

Nonetheless, Shiro is the type to leave no stone unturned when he’s on a mission, so he happens to go down that hallway, and finds it there, sitting all on its own.

A collection of ornate, multicolored pendants and amulets arranged in a window display is what draws him inside.

Understandably, it’s fairly empty when Shiro steps inside. The first thing he thinks is that Pidge and Hunk would have an absolute field day in here. Coran too, probably. The back wall is covered with knick-knacks and bits of machinery, some things that Shiro recognizes from the ship, others he’s never seen before. There’s a shopkeeper sitting behind the counter at the other end of the shop, but he barely looks up when Shiro walks in. He grunts at Shiro’s polite greeting of “hello sir”.

Shiro shrugs off the rather lukewarm greeting, rather unconcerned, because something else catches his eye.

Along the far wall, there’s a display on a long shelf that expands nearly the entire length of the wall. Velvety material of a deep midnight blue is covered in glittering jewels; all of them either a pale blue or a deep magenta. As he approaches the display, he sees that some are arranged on delicate looking rings, others on more elaborate looking headdresses. All of them are stunning in their own way, with the vibrant colours of the jewels set against gleaming the gleaming silver that binds them together.

His attention is drawn to one in particular. One of the jewels placed on a sturdy looking chain; it’s medium sized, the stone of the magenta variety and no bigger than a coin. The surface glitters prettily when he picks it up and tilts it under the light.

He imagines Allura wearing it around her neck, tucking it beneath the front of her dress or her suit.

Perfect, he thinks. Something sparkly acquired.

*

It takes him three days to work up the nerve to actually give it to her.

Well, it’s partly because he’s a busy man; being second in command on the ship takes up a lot of time, and they run into a few small fleets of Galra soldiers in that time. The encounters are minor skirmishes at most, so they manage to defuse the situations and come out relatively unscathed. Even so, it leaves less time for him to speak with Allura one on one. Finding a moment to themselves when things get hectic is a rare luxury.

He eventually finds her on the observation deck. It’s been three days and he’s absolutely determined to give her the pendant; it’s been burning a hole in his pocket for days, constantly reminding him of the fact that he needs to get himself together and go through with it.

It’s late when he finds her. Allura is standing by a window, her fingers tap tapping against the railing. Shiro figures that Coran probably pestered her into leaving her post so she would take a break and get some rest. It happens often enough for it to be somewhat of a habit for Coran at this point.

Shiro takes in a breath, steeling himself. He keeps his eye glued on her back—the mass of pale, silvery braids wound up atop her head, the elegance of her slim neck, the solid line of her shoulders—and reminds himself that he can do this. He can do this. He has to do this.

He forces himself to step towards her.

“Got kicked out again?” Shiro says as he approaches, his voice caught somewhere between light and teasing, and barely contained nervousness.

She startles at the sound of his voice, and turns to look over her shoulder. Her face breaks out into a small, tired smile that makes Shiro’s heart stammer in his chest.

“It amazes me that I am able to be kicked out when I am in charge of this ship,” Allura says with a rueful twist of her mouth. “In other words, yes I did.”

“Coran worries,” Shiro offers.

Allura doesn’t answer, just lets out a gust of breath, her shoulders falling slightly on the exhale.

Shiro doesn’t push the matter further. He knows it’s not his place to comment; it’s between her and Coran.

Not to mention, he’s on a mission right now. If he doesn’t do it now, he might lose his nerve.

“I have something for you,” he hears himself saying. It doesn’t feel like the words are actually coming out of his own mouth. He feels numb all over, like someone else is saying the words for him and he’s just standing there as a bystander. The only thing that is anchoring him to his presence in the moment is the hammering of his heart and nervous tightness in his belly.

Allura turns to him with a questioning quirk of her brow. “Something for me?”

Shiro nods, swallowing thickly. “Yes.”

He’s watching Allura’s face intently as he draws the pendant out from his pocket, so he sees the way her eyes go wide as she catches sight of the jewel glittering in his hand.

“Shiro,” Allura whispers after a long moment of silence, her voice catching a little on his name. Her eyes are fixed on the pendant. “How did you—where did you find this?”

“I went back to the mall,” Shiro explains. He contemplated saying “we” rather than “I” but decided against it; better to keep this as truthful as possible. He rubs the back of his neck with one hand. “You said you wanted something and, uh, I thought it would be nice to get you a gift since you couldn’t go with the rest of the team either?” He pauses, clears his throat before continuing. ”As a thank you for everything you’ve done for all of us.”

“Shiro,” she murmurs. Shiro notices with a little jolt of surprise that her eyes are wide and her cheeks are stained with a pinkish hue. “My goodness. Yes, of  _ course _ I will.”

Shiro blinks owlishly. “Yes?”

He’s about to ask “’ _ Of course you will’ what?”  _ when Allura steps forward and places her hands on either side of his face. Shiro’s breath catches in his throat in reaction to her sudden closeness.

“What?” he says, blinking at her in confusion.

“Yes,” she says again, a gentle smile playing at the corners of her mouth. Her eyes are sparkling brighter than the pendant he’s still holding in his hands.

Then, Shiro’s entire world stops around him, because the next thing she does is lean forward, arching up on her toes, and kisses him full on the mouth.

Shiro’s back stiffens in surprise, his hands hover awkwardly at his sides, and his mind seems to go completely blank for a moment because Allura is  _ kissing him. _

His mind doesn’t seem to be responding to the situation, but his body finally begins to react accordingly. He melts into the solid warmth of her body, his arms curving around her waist gently, holding her close as he kisses her back fervently. She makes a soft sound of approval that Shiro feels deep in his bones, and leans more into the kiss.

When the alarm goes off they jump apart, red faced and breathless. They stand there staring at each other for a few long moments before they both seem to remember. Right. Voltron. They have to go save the universe again.

“Duty calls,” Allura says, her voice rueful. She squeezes Shiro’s arm gently before turning on her heel, giving Shiro just a moment to glimpse her familiar battle face—stern and calm.

Shiro follows in her footsteps, just like he always does.

*

Shiro doesn’t get an explanation until a day later.

In that time, he hasn’t had a chance to speak with Allura alone. They had a close call with Zarkon’s fleet and were dealing with the major repairs needed for all the lions and the castle. Neither he nor Allura had any time to fraternize. There’s too much to do, too many responsibilities.

He tries not to think about it. It doesn’t always work, but this time he truly just doesn’t have time to obsess over it.

Shiro manages to carve out a brief moment to sit in the common room and close his eyes for a second, and that’s when Coran finds him.  

Coran startles Shiro when he sits next to him on the couch, leaning back against the cushions and looking over at him. “So!” he says. “Now, before I say anything, I just want you to know that I’m very happy for you and Allura.”

“Uh.” Shiro resists the urge to sigh. So, it sounds like he and Allura are officially together, and he still has no idea how it happened. And Coran knows. Great. “Thank you,” he manages to say. It comes out a little bit strangled

“Now that that’s out of the way,” Coran continues, “judging by your confused expression and the fact that no one has accessed the database files on Altean courting rituals, I’m going to assume that before I tell you that you better be good to Allura, I should probably first ask if you have any idea what you’ve gotten yourself into.”

“Courting rituals?” Shiro asks weakly.

Coran lets out a hearty laugh, but then cuts off abruptly when he sees Shiro’s forlorn expression. “Oh dear. It’s not funny. Okay, it’s a little funny, but only because it’s obvious that you are head over heels for her anyway. Also, you’re looking at me like you’ve been dropped on your head and have no idea what’s going on.”

Shiro just stares. He feels like that, too.

Coran chuckles. “The pendant you gave Allura? On Altea, they’re typically given as courting gifts when one wants to ask the object of their affections to be with them. It looks mighty authentic too, I must say, and if I can convince Allura to take it off for a few moments, I’d love to examine it to see just what exactly it’s made of, it looks like—“

“Wait,” Shiro says, his voice coming out a little louder than he intended. Coran startles a little. “Sorry, just—go back a second. The pendant is used for courting? So when I gave it to her, she thought I was asking her—”

“To be her lover, yes,” Coran says. He shudders visibly. “Something I never want to think about, so we’ll just skip right on over that.”

Shiro is grateful for that suggestion. He was about to say girlfriend, and if that weren’t enough to make him flustered,  _ lover _ definitely was.

“Oh,” Shiro says quietly. He wonders if his face is as red as it feels.

“It’s fascinating that Alteans and humans have similar responses to embarrassment,” Coran muses. That answers Shiro’s question nicely, he thinks.

“I have to talk to Allura,” he says, already getting to his feet. He doesn’t wait for Coran to respond; he’s nearly out the door before he hears him speak, and by then he’s out of earshot.

*

Allura brings it up before Shiro gets a chance.

He finds her in one of the common areas, her back facing him as he walks into the room. She doesn’t turn to him when she speaks.

“You were not aware of the custom, were you?”

Shiro stops in his tracks, his feet heavy like lead at the sound of Allura’s voice.

“I had time to think about it later, once my head was a bit clearer” she continues, not waiting for Shiro to answer first. “And I got curious, so I looked at our database.” She pauses there with a wry twist of her lips. “No one has accessed the files on Altean courtship rituals.”

Shiro grimaces inwardly. Of course she’s figured it out already.

“I apologize if the kiss was unwanted,” Allura continues quietly. She turns to face Shiro then, so he can see that her brows are furrowed and her lips are pressed together in a thin line. “I misread the situation.”

“No!” Shiro says, his voice raising a little frantically. Oh, he’s just making this whole situation even  _ worse _ . “No, that’s not what I meant at all, Princess.”

Allura’s frown deepens. Shiro rarely sees Allura allow herself to show such a vulnerable expression, so to see it on her face because of  _ him _ feels so viscerally wrong. “But you said you did not give the amulet with the intent of courting me.”

“I…” Shiro curses inwardly. “I didn’t mean it like that, Princess. I just meant that I didn’t know at the time—“ He pauses to swallow th. “I didn’t know what the necklace meant.”

Allura sighs. She gets to her feet and comes to stand in front of Shiro. Since Shiro is still sitting, she has to look down at him with her little frown, and Shiro thinks idly that it’s incredibly endearing. Allura frowning when she’s angry is terrifying, but this tiny, confused frown makes him want to smooth it away with his thumb. Or with a kiss.

He doesn’t linger on those thoughts for long. As adorable as it is, he’s responsible for putting it there, and he feels deeply sorry for that fact.

“Shiro,” Allura says firmly. “I value straightforwardness and I would really appreciate it right now.”

It was likely meant to sound like one of Allura’s commands that she gives out effortlessly while at the helm of her ship, leading her team through battle contingencies and strategies. But from spending time with Allura, Shiro knows that there is far more to her than that commanding, powerful presence that she can easily pull on like armor. Shiro knows that in quiet moments with someone she trusts, Allura might let down her guard a little bit and allow herself to be vulnerable. Or, maybe she just isn’t quite so good at acting when she’s with someone she’s close to. Familiarity undermines her defenses.

Knowing this, Shiro doesn’t miss the way that her words come out more like a plea than anything else.

“I didn’t know what the pendant meant,” Shiro says slowly, “but the sentiment behind it was real.”

Allura stays quiet at that, her stare firm and unblinking. Shiro can feel his heart trying to beat out of his chest as she holds his gaze in hers.

“I did not realize that you had feelings for me,” Allura says, finally. “As I do for you.”

Though Allura’s feelings are rather obvious given the situation they’re in, Shiro’s heart still stammers in his chest at the words.

“I had planned to wait,” Allura admits. “There was never the time—” She pauses, shakes her head. “You were dealing with so much, and I was dealing with so much… it just got put off.”

“Funny,” Shiro says, “I thought the exact same.”

Allura lets out a little laugh.

“I’d thought about giving you one,” she says. Shiro’s heart pangs in his chest at those words. Allura had thought about this too, then.

“I was sad thinking about the fact that I couldn’t court you properly,” she continues. She has that wistful, faraway look on her face that she always gets when she talks about Altea. It doesn’t happen often, but it’s often enough that Shiro has become familiar with it; the sadness in her eyes paired with a fond smile curving up at the corners in memory.

Unthinkingly, Shiro reaches out to her. He places his own hand over hers, his fingers a tentative suggestion.

She startles at the contact and looks down at Shiro’s hand. A beat and then her face softens, and she turns her hand over so she can tangle her fingers with Shiro’s.

Allura turns to him with a hopeful, gentle smile, and Shiro can’t help it. This time it’s him who leans in and presses his mouth to Allura’s, and this time it’s with a clear head and a fierce certainty in his heart that this is exactly what he ought to be doing.

 

**Author's Note:**

> Come join me on [twitter](https://twitter.com/pensvsswords) or [tumblr](http://pensversusswords.tumblr.com/)!


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